Sharing an unusual North American native plant today, (not from my neck of the woods!), but from Arizona and Texas.  The Selaginella lepidophylla, otherwise known as a rose of Jericho, or resurrection plant, is about as drought tolerant a plant as you can get. It is actually classed as a tumbleweed and this seemingly innocuous species is simply amazing! Let me explain why..

Doesn’t look like much, does it?! A dead root ball, perhaps.. However, mist it with some water, stand back and watch the magic begin as it comes back to life.

Back from the dead, as its name suggests! From a dead ball of brown to a thriving green plant with cedar like ferny foliage, and all in about an hour’s time! Considering the time of year with Halloween approaching, perhaps ‘zombie plant’ wouldn’t be far off, after all. 😉

I’ve taken a series of photos to show the progress from the above photo to green and alive! It turns green pretty quickly.

This was about 10 minutes after watering.

 

 

 

It starts to unfurl… 15 minutes in.

more unfurling.. 20 minutes in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The green colour is much more apparent at this point. Deepening to a cedar green colour… 45 minutes in.

 

 

 

 

 

Almost all the way open! 55 minutes in.

 

 

 

 

 

Filling out nicely and the green is soft and lush. 65 minutes in.

 

 

 

 

Fully open! Looks kind of like a big ferny, mossy chrysanthemum blossom!

Smells like a forest after the rain.

The best part is, you can let it dry right out again. It will return to its natural dried state,  furled up like an animal in a deep winter hibernation, waiting for spring to arrive once again.

For more information on these lovely and unusual plants, visit:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selaginella_lepidophylla
• http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SELE2

Thank you for visiting!